In various areas of electronics there is a need for circuits that will operate to divide frequency, typically in ultrahigh frequency applications. For example, a phase-locked loop system could require a frequency divider circuit for high frequency application.
As is well known in the prior art, a phase-locked loop consists essentially of a phase detector which compares the frequency of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with that of an incoming carrier signal or reference-frequency generator. The output of the phase detector is fed back to the VCO to keep it exactly in phase with the reference frequency.
In integrated circuits, the reference frequency for a phase-locked loop is typically provided by a crystal oscillator. However, it is expensive and difficult to manufacture a crystal oscillator that operates above 25 megahertz (MHz). Therefore, in a phase-locked loop which operates at 100-150 MHz, for example, a frequency-divider circuit is necessary to step down the frequency from the VCO before it is transmitted to the phase detector for comparison to the reference frequency from the crystal oscillator.
A divide-by-N frequency divider circuit (also called a counter circuit) will divide by a specific number of counts; that is, for N-clock pulses put into the circuit, only one output pulse is generated.
Conventional frequency-divider circuits for binary signals usually consist of master slave, D-type flip-flops. Such a flip-flop has a single data input (D input), either one or a pair of complementary data outputs (Q or Q, or both), and a clock input (CLK). In operation, data in the form of a logic level present at the data input (D input) is transferred to the data output (Q output) when the clock input CLK makes a specified clock pulse edge or transition (i.e., transition from logic "low" or "0" level to logic "high" or "1" level). If provided, complementary data output is available at the Q output. When the clock input CLK level changes from the high state to the low state, the logic state present at the D input prior to the clock transition is retained or latched at the data output or outputs, regardless of subsequent changes in the data input, until such time as the clock input CLK makes a low-to-high transition again.
High-frequency circuit design requires that the number of parasitic capacitances and resistances be kept at a minimum. Parasitics associated with any given circuit node increase the delay of circuit operation related to that node. Hence, it is desirable to keep the number of interconnections to a minimum in a circuit designed to operate at high frequencies.
The general approach to minimizing interconnections is to reduce the complexity of the circuit. A small number of interconnections in general means a small number of components, particularly of components with three or more terminals (e.g., transistors). In a frequency divider circuit this translates to reducing the gate count through the signal path.
Another method of increasing the speed of a frequency-divider circuit is to operate all its flip-flops synchronously; that is, all driven by the same clock waveform. A synchronous divider circuit is one in which all flip-flops of the circuit change state simultaneously in response to a common clock. Since all flip-flops change simultaneously, the output (or count or state) can be decoded quickly because there is no count propagation to wait for.
A further objective in designing a high-speed frequency divider circuit is to reduce total propagation delay to a minimum. For this type of circuit, propagation delay is the time required for the network to stabilize in a new state, as measured from the low to high edge transition of the clock input (CLK) signal. Propagation delay can be reduced by judicious assignment of the states of the counter flip-flops.